Aquino must buckle down to work–Pimentel

After “wasting” one year in office, President Aquino has to “buckle down to serious work” and look at issues with his heart, not with his eyes, former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. said Thursday.

Pimentel, now head of the Center of Local Governance in the University of Makati, said Mr. Aquino’s performance in terms of governance and public service in the last 12 months still left much to be desired.

In Pimentel’s view, Mr. Aquino has failed to grasp the “substance” of pressing socio-economic and political issues, that’s why he dealt with these only superficially.

A case in point, he said, was Mr. Aquino’s visit to flooded areas in Maguindanao last Wednesday where he merely commented on the vast swathe of water hyacinths clogging rivers.

“In the meantime, the people of Maguindanao have been suffering from floods for about a month. I understand they have been expecting something more than just that,” he said in his assessment of Mr. Aquino’s performance.

Pimentel blamed Mr. Aquino’s “superficial” grasp of issues on the absence of regular Cabinet meetings.

“He doesn’t need the whole Cabinet, but certainly he must have sessions with people responsible for certain areas of government concern. Otherwise he will be faced with the situation like when he went to Maguindanao,” he told the Senate press forum.